Voting Information
At the 2024 WSPTA Legislative Assembly, delegates will vote on:
- Adoption of the agenda
- Adoption of the Standing Rules
- New legislative issues and new and amended resolutions proposed for consideration (Voters’ Guide)
Delegates will vote on seven new legislative issues, which, if adopted, will be added to the 2025-2026 WSPTA Legislative Platform. Delegates will also consider adoption of three new resolutions and one amended resolution. There are two previously adopted resolutions proposed for retirement. There are no new or amended legislative principles for consideration.
Please refer to the How Things Work guide for more information about how debate, discussion, and voting will happen.
Learn About the Proposed Issues and Resolutions
Delegates can learn about the issues and resolutions under consideration in several ways:
- Voters’ Guide
- Education Videos – Each proposed issue and resolution will have a short education video shown during Legislative Assembly
- Caucus Sessions – There are two sessions on Saturday so attendees can ask questions about the legislative issues. Sessions on different issues will occur at the same time, so it is import to send your full allotment of delegates so you can attend different topics.
- Whova Communities – Each proposed issue and resolution will have a Whova Community where attendees can discuss and ask questions.
Proposed Amendment Information
All motions to amend will be submitted during the debate on the proposed legislative issue or resolution.
Only the parts in shaded boxes in the Voter’s Guide are open for amendment and debate during legislative assembly.
- For a new legislative issue, only the title and description statement may be amended.
- For a new resolution, only the title and resolved clauses of the proposed resolution may be amended.
- For an amendment to a previously adopted resolution, only the portions of the resolution that have proposed amendments may be further amended. Amendments are shown as a strikethrough or deletions and as underlined bold font for additions.
- Resolutions may not have more than four resolved clauses.
- Resolution whereas clauses will be updated by the resolutions committee as needed.
Motion Writing 101
If you would like to submit a motion to amend for a proposed issue or resolution, there will be two Motion Writing 101 sessions vailable:
- Saturday, October 26 from 12:40 PM – 1:10 PM (during lunch)
- Sunday, October 27 from 8:15 AM – 8:45 AM
Amendment Best Practices
- Remember: Issues and resolutions are not legislation; they are part of the WSPTA platform. Delegates do not need to struggle over every word (wordsmithing), as the proposal will not be turned into a bill precisely as it is worded.
- Amendments must clearly state what change(s) you want to happen. Use the following language (add/insert and strike/delete) and format:
“In resolved clause #2, bullet #1, after word “authentic” strike out the word “parent” and insert the word “family” - Amendments should also try to stick to one focus at a time. For example, if there is a resolution with four resolved clauses and you would like to propose changes to two of the resolved clauses, it would be better to submit two separate amendments. The reason for this is that if delegates like one of your proposals but not the other the whole motion may fail with no changes taking place.
- More information can be found in the Amendment Best Practices
- Submit separate motion forms for each motion.